Naught Gold May Remain
by BoxyP
Summary: One-shots tying into the Marauder-Era story The Path Not Tread and covering years from the late 1800s to December 25th 1980, the collection contains additional scenes and explores main and side characters of my AU verse.
1. In Vino Veritas

**A/N: **Sooo...

[blushes in shame while waving hand to everyone who's stumbled onto this collection]

...I know I promised this chapter in short order some... two... years ago? But, well, it turns out, writing about some things you've never experienced might prove a bit more intractible than writing about most other things you've never experienced, and I'll tell you all a bit of a secret: I've never been drunk in my life (no religious or moral reasons, just that I don't like the taste of alcohol and don't see the attraction of inebriation enough to want to deal with the usual hangover consequences). Mind you, I have also written about plenty of other things I've never experienced (refer back to Peter's home sections in the main story for an example of that) and they'd never given me trouble, so in my defence, I had no idea I'd end up totally stuck on putting this down for this long.

(Perhaps the second reason is that I really don't know how to write comedy, and I've never had this better demonstrated to myself than in this chapter. So instead, this is a mildly amusing teen melodrama chapter instead, and we'll all have to be content with it, I'm afraid.)

In all seriousness, when I decided not to put any of this into the main story, it was because I felt it wouldn't be contributing much to it and it would be taking up too much space in general. I stand by this as a very good decision after all this time, though I hope that even so, my long-time readers will enjoy a bit of silliness in what is generally an extremely emotionally heavy narrative, and that they'll manage to find some smidges of characterization that can enhance the way they see these three characters and their motives and actions.

So, without further ado - the drunken shenanigans chapter! For those who are new or (more likely) have totally forgotten, this chapter depicts the events on the penultimate night of Lily, Severus and Remus' seaside holiday to Clotilde's cottage in the summer of 1976, which came about because Lily's parents were divorcing and she needed a bit of an escape from her home life, and thus follows directly on Ch II,23 - To Seek an Equilibrium.

* * *

**In Vino Veritas**

Making alcohol was a skill all of its own; at its pinnacle, it was comparable to an art form, and many a Muggle and wizard alike had brought their recipes to such perfection that their products were known across the world.

But, at its core, there wasn't too much complexity to it – ferment and distil. High sugar content products plus yeast equalled ethanol, and purification was as difficult as heating the mixture up to the boiling temperature of alcohol and collecting the evaporate. High quality liquors were made of various fruits for flavours with additionally added sugar, and the fermentation process could last as long as several months. Rotgut liquor, on the other hand, needed only corn and could be done in a week.

Especially if one was a wizard with freedom to speed things up with magic.

Really, compared to all of the brewing chores his mother had saddled him with over the summer, Severus found himself positively enjoying the alcohol production. And much as it was his task, in truth, both Lily and Lupin contributed in some measure – Lupin, being the best of the three of them in transfiguration magic, took care of reshaping a few of Severus' cauldrons into a small still and a cooling coil, while Lily worked out the charms to help with temperature regulation on both ends of the machinery, keeping the still hot for boiling alcohol out of the mash and the water around the coil cold for precipitating the alcohol steam. Severus focused his energies on improving the effectiveness of the fermentation process, and also on the purification of the alcohol.

He didn't try to experiment too much with the taste, having never done any true research into the topic. His previous alcohol distillation had been mostly for potioneering purposes, when buying specialized alcohol extracts was far too expensive compared to the more laborious home-made job (plus, it had had the added bonus of allowing him experimentation on yet another level as well). Lily and Lupin both assured him they weren't picky so long as it didn't taste completely vile, and for his part, Severus had no wish to make it seem in any way appealing to himself; he refused to be anything alike to Tobias in any way.

They gathered all three by the still in the early afternoon of the agreed-upon 'night of debauchery', as Lily had taken to calling it, and ate a late lunch while Severus got the distillation going, answering Lily's numerous questions about the process absent-mindedly. They'd set up the still outside, and the heat of the magic-fuelled furnace coupled with the summer temperatures left Severus a sweaty mess in minutes, his hair sticking to his neck and cheeks, his tee developing wet patches under the armpits and on the chest and back. For their part, Lily and Lupin didn't look much better, though rather than complaining, Lily simply cast a breeze charm, so that at least they'd have the illusion of fresh air. And though he'd not believed it would ever happen, when she offered him a hair tie, Severus actually found himself glad to be able to pull the hair away from his face and neck.

Lupin's rather strange look at that made him cross his arms over his chest and lift his eyebrows in challenge. Lupin's answer was to shake his head and turn his attention back to the still, blatantly non-engaging. After almost a week of watching his own temper, Severus found it rather easy to let it go instead of say anything. And frankly, in this quite literally hellish temperature, he really didn't have even a little bit of a desire to pursue a confrontation, either. The air was so hot it was hard to properly breathe.

It took a while for the alcohol to start precipitating in proper quantities, but when the first translucent droplets began dripping from the tip of the cooling coil into a bottle, Lily giggled like a little girl and clapped her hands together in obvious glee, leaving Severus and Lupin in the uncomfortable position of sharing identical looks of bemused incredulity as they stared at her.

"I know you're bursting with anticipation, Lils, but this is a bit... yeah."

She huffed at him. "Sourpusses, the both of you." When Lupin rolled his eyes, she gave him a haughty look. "Well, _some_ of us don't go around breaking rules and making illegal liquors every chance they get; I have the right to be excited if I want to."

"Hey, I resent that!"

"Wait, are you telling us that you and your precious gaggle of arseholes _didn't_ try doing this yourselves?" Severus butted in, putting as much incredulity into his voice as possible. "Because I'm more likely to believe you if you told me Black likes dressing in tutus and taking it up the arse."

"Severus!" Lily gasped, looking mildly scandalised. "Must you be so crass?!"

He offered her a dismissive shrug, far too amused by the queasiness on Lupin's face to even try pulling off contrition. When he looked back at her, to his surprise, Lily seemed equally fighting amusement, if her dancing eyes were anything to go by. Apparently, not even bad language could dampen her enthusiasm for the evening.

She met his gaze and snorted, covering her mouth with her fingers in a bid to keep the giggles in. Severus frowned, asking voicelessly 'what'.

"Nothing, just... well, if he _did_, I have a feeling I know whom he'd like it from."

"Lily!" Lupin exclaimed, while Severus found himself laughing with more mirth than he had in, Merlin, must have been _years_. The way that Lupin was rapidly shifting from almost insulted to stupefied only made Severus laugh harder, which of course made Lily join in, until they were caught in one of those idiotic fits where it was impossible to stop, because the moment you locked eyes with your partner in laughter, it'd get you going all over again.

And apparently, it was so contagious that Lupin wasn't immune to it either, so that his deeper, more sonorous laughter joined in as well, which pushed Lily metaphorically over the edge and quite literally off her feet, tears dripping down her sweaty, reddened cheeks. The sight made Severus clutch at his aching stomach muscles and bend over almost double, but the laughter wouldn't stop, and seeing Lupin banging his fist against his thigh only made him laugh even harder.

In the end, they were all on the ground in various states of breathless exhaustion, cramping abdominal muscles and leaking eyes, and it was a good five or more minutes of almost uninterrupted laughter later.

"We're mean," Lily gasped out, rubbing her sternum absent-mindedly through the sweat-darkened front of her cotton shirt.

"Oh, please, I have no doubt they've had many a laugh at my expense. Lupin here can attest to it, no doubt."

"Fair enough," Lupin voiced tightly. "Though if he knew what we'd been laughing about, Sirius would no doubt break all our noses, and a few more things besides."

"He could _try_," Severus retorted. "Wouldn't be _my_ nose that'd be rearranged."

"I'm sure your nose wouldn't even look that different, Snape."

"Hey!" Lily snapped at him as Severus pushed to a seated position, bristling sharply, the mirth evaporating out of him like so much smoke. Lupin met Severus' eyes, looking surprisingly contrite.

"That was uncalled for," he admitted quietly before Severus could spit out his retort regarding Lupin's self-mutilation. "I apologise. I just... until recently, they were my best friends; I guess... I'm still not quite up to taking the piss out of them in this manner."

Lily sighed and climbed to her feet; her excitement was gone as well, the tense atmosphere lingering in spite of Lupin's apology. Severus mourned its passing, only now realising how much he'd been basking in it – Lily genuinely excited about something had always had the power to make him feel a bit drunk, a bit off centre. It had been so long he'd not even recognised the feeling, and he wanted it back with fervent greed.

It made him resent Lupin for stealing it from him for the next few hours at least.

* * *

"And the honour goes to... me!" Lily exclaimed once they'd all put their beach towels on the sand and plopped down on them. She lifted the one-point-five-litre glass bottle high up, turning to salute the setting sun, before bringing it to her lips and chugging a big gulp of it down.

She promptly spat it all out in a fine-misted spray, coughing so hard she had to bang her chest with her fist a bit to get herself settled.

Naturally, her two best friends were laughing their arses off at her.

"Merlin, this is bloody strong."

"That was sort of the point, Lils," Remus said through his sniggers, reaching for the bottle and taking a chug himself. "Huh, this is actually not that bad."

"Of course it's not; I made it," Severus snapped, grabbing the bottle to take a swallow himself, before returning it to Lily. "Try going a bit slower this time?"

"Fool me once," she replied with a shrug and did as he'd bid her. She wasn't quite sure how much worse it could be, because it was, in fact, pretty bad, burning her throat as it went down and leaving her wanting to pant from the spicy aftertaste left in her mouth. Still, she'd been looking forward to this evening of silliness far too much to be discouraged by rotgut liquor actually tasting like, well, rotgut.

She passed the bottle to Remus and leaned back on her hands, enjoying the way the sunset warmed her back and coloured the sea in soothing shades of deep blue. She was going to miss this place when she had to return to Cokeworth.

"Maybe we could come here again some time?"

"The three of us?" Remus asked, sounding quite doubtful about the idea.

"Why not?" she argued. "I mean, I know you guys aren't gonna be best of friends any time soon, but we work together well enough. Don't we?"

"To, I am sure, everyone's utter surprise," Severus spoke up, taking a swig from the bottle passed to him by the werewolf boy before handing it to Lily.

"So you _wouldn't_ be opposed to the idea, Snape?"

Severus inclined his head thoughtfully. Lily watched him over the rim of the bottle as she took a swallow, the liquor sliding down her throat and settling heat into her stomach.

"If Lily insisted."

Sticking the bottle into the sand, Lily leapt off her towel and onto his, ambushing him with an exuberant, brief hug that he had no chance of reacting to before she was back in her seat.

Her head swam a little.

"Uh-oh; I think it's hitting her already," Remus said with laughter in his voice. "You really _are_ a total lightweight, aren't you, Lily?"

"I told you I'd never gotten drunk before," she turned to pout at him, before another thought caught up with her. "Is it supposed to be this fast?"

"With fiftyish percent alcohol content, and how much you've chugged down in ten minutes? Oh, yes."

That perked her right back up. "Well, then, you two'll just have to put up with me, won't you?"

"Haven't we been doing that for the past week?"

Lily's mood plummeted momentarily; she _had _been rather a bore.

Remus punched Severus in the shoulder with a scowl, and Severus suddenly looked very guilty.

"That's not – I meant to say –"

"I'm not like Tuney, Sev, am I? I'm not, right?"

Severus blinked in surprise. "No, Lily. You're _nothing_ like Tuney."

"'Scept, I'm not supposed to call her Tuney anymore. _Pe-tu-ni-a_. Pe-tuney? Pe-tuney!"

Remus tugged the bottle out of her grip. "Easy there, Lils. Share the joy with us for a bit, yeah?"

Lily's head swam a bit, and she shook it to dislodge the stupid thought. _Joy_. She smiled; yes, that was the point of this escapade, she remembered. To be happy!

"Okie, Remmy. You catch up."

She dropped herself on her towel and decided to stare into the sky while they got drunk too. It was pretty, almost burning orange up above her and deep blue down below. She couldn't see the ground at all, and felt very dizzy, and very light.

It made her laugh out loud.

* * *

Remus felt utterly pleased with himself for being so right – no one made such good liquor like a potioneer. Snape's rotgut alcohol was maybe not very tasty, but it was sure potent. It sat warmly in his stomach and made him loose and relaxed.

Lily was twirling with her hands spread out. Her hair was liquid copper fire in the last rays of the setting sun, spreading around her head. Beside him, Snape looked like someone had hit him over the head with something; the look on his face made Remus snort.

"Wha?" Snape shot, blinking at him a bit too much.

"Nothing. Lils, you'll be sick."

Lily laughed, tripped and fell face-first in the sand. She rolled back, right onto Snape's lap, spluttering all the way and wiping at her mouth with the back of her hand so that Snape almost dropped back onto his elbows in surprise at her move. Sand stuck all on her face from the sweat.

"The sky's so purty," she said with a sigh, smiling happily up at Snape. Her hair had settled all around his lap. When Snape frowned, she lifted her finger up and tried to bop his hooked nose. The boy batted her hand away and scowled at her. Remus had to laugh at her silliness, and Lily laughed with him, too, probably just because he was laughing.

Winning the private bet he'd made with himself on what sort of drunk she'd be gave Remus a bubbly feeling in his chest. He swung the bottle up again and took a moderate swallow. His stomach wasn't cast-iron like Sirius', but his metabolism did compensate a lot. He had no problems _getting _drunk, but pacing himself was about the only way to _stay_ drunk.

"I'm funny, am I?" Snape snapped, making Remus frown at him. Lily didn't seem upset at that, though; she smiled widely up at him instead.

"Course you are, Sev. You're Sev. Don't be sad!" she said when he scowled at her. Her voice dipped into distress for a moment. "It's a _good_ thing! I like you funny!"

"I bet you do," Remus said with a grin. "Take a swig, _Sev_, lighten up."

Snape growled. "Call me that again, try it, wolf."

Remus blinked in surprise, deciding that maybe he shouldn't have called him that after all. But Lily laughed again and rolled off his lap.

"That's such a funny sound. See, I told you you're funny."

Snape scrambled to his feet and crossed his arms over his chest, looking very angry. "I'm _not_ funny, Lily. I'm... I'm..."

"You're my Sev'rus," she declared, springing up and stumbling into him so that he also stumbled and they barely stayed on their feet, to Remus' intense amusement. "You don't have to be funny to anyone else, Sev, that's fine. He's not funny to you, is he, Remus?"

"Oh, he's hilarious," Remus replied, grinning up at them. The storm cloud above Snape's head was almost not metaphorical, that was how bad his scowl was. Remus thought that maybe he'd won the other bet with himself too.

"I could show you hilarious," Snape said, glaring at Remus but stuck in place because Lily was clinging to him like a limpet.

"Just as soon as Lily gets off ya, I imagine."

"Oh, then I shan't! Shan't, shan't!" Lily chanted. She wrapped her arms around Snape's chest and burrowed her head in his abdomen. She also seemed to be squeezing so strongly that Snape huffed out a breath and didn't know what to do with his arms.

But he didn't move away. Remus thought that it'd be nice if Lily hugged him like that, too; he missed being hugged. Only his mum really hugged him properly. But maybe that was because only girls were allowed to hug boys and other girls, too. Boys were not allowed to hug boys.

That was a very stupid rule, Remus decided. Sometimes, the Wolf liked to snuggle with Padfoot, when it got tired of running around. Remus missed that. He wasn't sure if he missed Sirius, though. Padfoot was much nicer company than Sirius any way he looked at it.

"If you shan't him any more than that, Lily, I think you'll make him die of lack of oxygen," Remus noted and laughed at how red Snape's face was.

"That makes no sense at all," Lily complained but let Snape go and began twirling again. Snape plopped down on the towel and took a big swallow.

The liquor was almost gone.

* * *

"_We'll rant and we'll roar, like true British sailors; we'll rant and we'll roar across the salt seas_... The stars are purty, aren't they?" Lily said.

"Suppose they are," Lupin agreed from his towel.

Lily lifted her arms up and waved them above her head. "D'you deel fizzy... er, feel dizzy when you look aaaall the way up up up? Like you can feel the Dearth... no, Earth... _Earth_ spinning and, and leaving yah behind?"

Severus tried, then closed his eyes to stop the vertigo. "Ugh. Nah." Why was he even listening to her, who put her in charge of doing things when they were drunk?

"You're boring, Sev, you know that? You're being booo-ring."

Severus only ever remembered that Lily was mean when he wasn't around her. When he was around her, she always caught him off guard with it, and it always hurt more than it should. "Then why'reya hangin' out w'me?"

Lily laughed, like she always did when she didn't realise she'd hurt him. "Because I like you, silly. You're jus' being boring _now_."

"He's being a sourpuss," Lupin added.

"That's my word!" Lily exclaimed. "Isn't it a funny word?"

It wasn't a funny word.

Severus sat up on his towel and turned to Lupin, because he could never be properly angry with Lily. If he tried, then she got hurt and he _hated_ himself when he hurt her. But he could hurt Lupin. He deserved it, hogging all of Lily's attention. "You seem to wanna pick a fight with me, wolf."

Lupin gave him a grin. "You're the one who keeps growling all the time, Snape! Maybe _you're_ the wolf!"

Ugly memories bubbled up to the surface. Dark tunnel. Open exit. A massive monster that sometimes chased him in his nightmares. Severus jumped to his feet. His fists were _itching _to hit something. Preferably Lupin's face. "Since you almost turned me inna one–"

Now Lupin was also sitting up, and there was anger on his face, too. _Good_. "I apologised for that already, you don't get freebies–"

Severus scoffed. "I couldna buy coal for a Christmas stocking with your apologies–"

"At least you'd have enough to buy coal, since you can't afford anything else–"

"Says the boy who dadn't even know how ta use mending charms proply–"

"At least my hair is always clean! And I don't stick my _straight_ nose into my p... pppp... parchment when I write!"

"Oh, I'll rerange your _straight_ nose for ya, shall I?" Severus yelled, jumping to his feet and then almost falling because his head was spinning a bit. Right, he was drunk.

"I'm going swimming." Lily declared with a nod. Severus immediately forgot about Lupin and rolled his eyes at her. She couldn't even get to her feet properly, she was so drunk, and she wanted to go swimming.

"Don't be silly, Lily, you'll just end up drownin'," he told her, since she was too drunk to think for herself.

"I will not!"

"You're stinkin' drunk!"

"Am not!" She exclaimed. She tried to get to her feet and slipped on her towel. "Ooof. Oh! Mebbe I am." Then she gave him a big smile that made his chest feel tight. "But I can still swim! And, and..." she sat back on her bum with a frown as she thought it over. Severus loved her frowns, they always made him want to run his fingers over them. Her face cleared. "I know! If I push off my clothes, they won't take me down!"

Oh. Oh, no. _Oh, no, no, no._

"_What–_" Severus started.

"_Wait_–" Lupin began.

"What?" Lily asked with confusion. "It's your idea in the first place, Sev!" She was reaching back to the ties of her bikini top.

"It is _not_! Lily, stop!" She laughed and pulled out of his reach. Severus narrowed his eyes at her. "I'm stickin' your bathing suit to ya," he warned, digging his wand out of the sand. When he had it in his hand, he tried to wave it at her and tripped and fell down, because his head was still spinning.

Lily laughed, tried to scramble to her feet and run to the sea. "You can't catch me, you're too drunk to even stand on your ffffeet!"

"You're one to talk!" he exclaimed, trying to have another go at the sticking spell, though he wasn't sure anymore what the proper words for it were. It was because Lily's top was now off and his brain was deciding that it should short-circuit for a bit, like the light fixtures when his mother used too much magic.

"Well, I jus–" She fell down again. "Gah, sand tastes horrible, doesn'it?" she muttered, spitting and flicking her tongue. "Gimme the bottle!" she demanded, scrambling back to take a big chug out of it. Then she spat a bit more – she clearly still had sand in her mouth. She looked at the bottle and frowned. "Hey, d'you think pirates also accidally... acc... accid... ent-ally! ate sand? Maybe that's why they drank so much rum! Oh, rem'ber, rem'ber... how's that one sea shanty go, Sev?" Her face cleared in triumph. "_Way hey blow the man down! Oh, give me some time to blow the man down!_" she sang in a bad Irish accent. It made her giggle so hard she fell on her bum and giggled some more while Severus tried to pull the bottle away from her. She might spill what little was left.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, suddenly stopping the giggling and crossed her legs tightly one over the other. "Oops."

"Lily?"

She giggled again. "I think I peed m'self a bit!" She seemed utterly perplexed for a second, then scrambled to her feet. "Gotta pee gotta pee gotta pee!"

She tripped and stumbled on her way to the water, then made an exaggerated sigh followed by more giggling when she was deep enough to do what she'd said she'd do. Severus sat on the sand and tried to understand what had just happened.

"There!" Lily exclaimed, then dunked herself into the water clumsily. When she came up, she lobbed something at their stuff that landed with a soft wet dud – her bikini panties.

_Merlin_, she was _naked _in the water.

"Lily!" Severus exclaimed, scandalised.

"Well, you comin'?" She asked, planting her hands on her hips bossily. Her hair was plastered to her forehead and arms and shoulders and breasts. She looked almost like she was stuck in seaweed, completely ridiculous. Especially because she didn't seem to notice that she was being ridiculous.

Severus got distracted by her breasts, though. He _really_ liked her breasts, he decided – not too large but not small either, and perky. He'd never thought he'd get to see them, too. Too bad it was so dark he couldn't see her nipples. He was very curious about her nipples, though he couldn't quite remember why at the moment.

"Well, you gonna sit this one out, then?" Lupin asked.

_Lupin!_

Lupin could also see Lily naked!

"Come _on_, Sev! Severus! Sev! _Pleeeeease_! The water's so nice, you gotta come in! Come on, you guys! Blokes! Chaps! Fellas! Dudes! There's really lotsa lotsa words for boys, in't there?"

Lupin looked at her and laughed happily, and Lily laughed with him, too. Their laughter filled the quiet air around them, and Severus felt like he couldn't breathe, his chest was so tight.

Then Lupin looked down at him out of the corner of his eyes, and Severus realised with a surge of fury that the other boy was _challenging_ him. For Lily.

Lupin was _never_ going to get Lily, not if Severus had anything to say about it. Lily was _his_, _his_ best friend, _his _prettiest girl in the world, _his_ love of his life. And he was _not_ going to let Lupin just _watch_ while Lily splashed around naked in the water. He wasn't _allowed_ to see Lily naked.

So angry he couldn't see straight, Severus swallowed the last of the liquor in that bottle he'd stolen from Lily so that he could toss it at Lupin's head. There was no point wasting good alcohol. Then he swung it in Lupin's general direction, but got too tangled in tugging his shirt over his head and wriggling out of his trunks as fast as his clumsy limbs would obey to see if it landed.

The bottle had landed, but in the sand too far away from Lupin's head, so he'd clearly missed. Agitated, Severus surged to his feet and pushed Lupin _hard_ onto the ground instead. Then he ran into the water, not even looking back to see if the other boy was hurt.

He clearly wasn't, because he was laughing again and running after Severus into the water, the two of them splashing mightily as they raced to get to Lily first. Lily was shrieking delightedly like a banshee and screaming her head off and then a big spray of water hit Severus right in the face, and oh, it was so _on_.

* * *

Lily barely managed to close her mouth before her head was under the water. Severus' hands were slippery on her shoulders, though, so she wiggled away and tried to wrap her arm around his neck. Remus helped to push him down, too, so they dunked him instead.

She swam away as fast as she could, laughing hysterically, and got a mouthful of water when Remus pulled her by the leg and she went splattering back into the tangle of limbs.

Everything was twirly and spinning and she felt dizzy, and everything was hilarious, so she laughed and banged her arms and legs in the water to get away from the boys or get as much water in their mouths too.

Sea water and rotgut liquor did not mix well _at all_.

But at least they were better than sand, she decided.

"Tag, you're it!" Lily yelled, pushing Remus down and swimming away. Remus lunged for her and then got stuck, because Severus grabbed him by his waist and tugged him away.

"Run, Lily, run!"

She laughed some more and swam away, except then Remus turned on Severus and that wasn't on, Severus had just saved her. So she dived down and grabbed for the nearest body part she could find. It was someone's thigh, maybe, and that someone turned and pushed her further down in retaliation until she was scraping the sand at the bottom.

The weight went away and she pushed herself up to stand properly, spitting and coughing.

"No fair, I was diving!"

"You snooze, you lose!"

"That doesn't even make any sense!" she exclaimed and laughed some more.

Then she jumped back onto the boys, and they went round and round like that for another while.

In the end, when she finally couldn't even laugh, that was how tired she was, she stumbled towards the shore.

She fell into the water and crawled a bit, then banged her legs up and down to splash some more and decided to lay there until she wasn't so tired. Her stomach felt queasy, too, now that the water was moving forward and back around her in little waves.

Remus plopped down next to her.

"Tired?" he asked.

"Bleh," she replied, frowning at him. "Don't think I feel so good."

Actually, she really wasn't feeling very well all of a sudden. There was something sitting in the back of her throat, pressing down. Head spinning, she sat up onto her knees. She felt like burping, except it wasn't exactly like that.

"Uh, Lils..."

"I think I'manna puke."

Lily threw up into the shallow water in front of her. It was mostly digested bits of lunch in a lot of liquid, and it tasted horrible. She threw up some more.

When she thought she was done, Lily made a face at all the icky stuff floating around her and tried to swim away.

"Ugh."

Her stomach wasn't hurting so much anymore, which was good. But her mouth was icky. And her eyes also wouldn't stay open anymore. She was so tired.

She decided she would float a bit in the water and closed her eyes. "I think I'm just sleep here a bit," she murmured.

"Oooh, no, no, no," Remus said. His voice sounded all far away and distorted like this. "We're going back to the cottage. Come on, up and at'em!"

"What's that even mean?" she asked, a giggle escaping her.

"Snape! The damsel is in distress, we gotta get her back in!"

"You sound like those tairy fale books I read as a kid," she said softly, delighted with the idea. "Or those Disney films! My fave is _The Sword in the Stone_. It's got Merlin, and, and Medes. No, Arch... Arch-a-medes! That's my owl, d'you know?"

"Come _on_, Wart, you can't be the Sleeping Beauty here," Remus said, tugging on her arm under her armpit. Someone else also tugged on her other arm and, oh, _there_ was Severus, and now she wasn't floating anymore, she was standing.

Lily tried to take a step and stumbled, so they all almost fell back down.

"Water's spinning," she said, letting the boys pull her up a bit as she tried to get her feet under her. "My legs dinna work."

That sounded hilarious, so she laughed some more, and the boys laughed with her.

She had to stop them all and take some deep breaths, because she was very breathless all of a sudden. Probably all that laughing and swallowing sea water. Or maybe the throwing up. Throwing up made more sense, she decided.

"Sev, Sev. I puked."

"I know, Lily," he said. "Are you all done with it?"

"Dunno. I think so, but I'm not sure. How d'you know? If I puke again, can I aim at you?" she asked.

"Only if I can puke on you back," Severus muttered.

"You two are disgusting," Remus said, shaking his head.

"No, no, we're friends!" Lily insisted. Severus pulled her arm up and put it over his shoulders, and on her other side, Remus did the same. "That's what best friends are _for_," she told them importantly, leaning into Severus so that they all stumbled in that direction, like a big six-armed, six-legged magical creature. Oh, were they still best friends? She'd not been sure before, she thought. "We _are_ best friends, aren't we?" she asked, scared all of a sudden that they weren't.

"Yes, Lily. Always," Severus promised, and Lily smiled at him because it was the best thing she'd ever heard in her life.

Sev was the _best_ friend a girl could ever have.

* * *

Remus remembered to pick up their wands on their stumbling, drunken way back to the cottage.

The wands were _very_ important, he remembered that much, so he made them all stop until he'd found them. He didn't have anywhere to put them, since he didn't have any clothes, but it seemed better to hold onto them instead of giving them to the other two.

They were _way_ drunker than he was, he thought.

Or no, it was that his furry problem was a party pooper, so he never _stayed_ drunk properly.

But at least he'd remembered the wands, because the other two were _way _too drunk to remember!

"Gimme, gimme, gimme," Lily slurred, reaching for her wand and making them all stumble in Remus' direction.

"No! Drunk girls don't get wands to play with. You get it tomorrow." He giggled, because this was the sort of joke Sirius would make. Wands to play with! Sirius had a dirty mind, and Remus thought him hilarious sometimes. But secretly! He was supposed to be the mature one of the four.

"But I want my wand back! It's mine!"

Except he wasn't one of the four anymore. Didn't matter, Remus decided. He had two new friends he was quite happy with. Happy being drunk with. While they tried to drown each other in the sea, without any clothes on.

"Yes, hand'em over," Snape said in that same voice he used right before Lily got them all distracted with swimming starkers, so Remus thought maybe it was just easier to hand them over after all.

He didn't want any bottles thrown at him again, even if Snape's aim was so bad he wouldn't have hit the side of Hogwarts if he'd been aiming.

"_Way hey blow the man down!_" Lily sang, tugging them off balance a bit as she giggled.

"_Gimme some time to blow the man down_," Remus joined in. It sounded better if more than one person was singing. That was why he joined. Not because he found the song really funny.

"Oh, let's do the _Spanish Ladies_ again!"

Snape started it off. "_We'll rant and we'll roar, like true British sailors; we'll rant and we'll roar across the salt seas!_" Lily and Remus joined in as soon as they could, so that they all together sang the rest of the chorus. "_Until we strike soundings; in the Channel of old England; From Ushant to Scilly 'tis thirty-five leagues!_"

They stumbled into the cottage through the back door and up the stairs to their rooms, where Lily tugged them in the direction of the bathroom.

"No, thisaway, Lily," Snape said, pulling the other way.

"But I got sand on my legs. No, feet! And I puked!" Lily complained, stopping to try and brush it off – except her arms were still wrapped around Remus' and Snape's shoulders, so she just got them all wobbling into the wall. "I wanna shower!"

"You're too drunk," Snape said, over-enunciating words. He just wanted to appear like he wasn't as drunk, but Remus had heard him slurring his words all the time before. "And you took a swim after puking. You're fine."

Lily put her bottom lip out in a pout and gave him a look.

"But I feel all icky, Sev! I puked! Puking, thasafunny word, innit? Puking. Pu-uuu-king. Oh, I know! You could help me, I don't mind. Please?! I just wanna shower."

"Yeah, _Sev_, we _could_ all shower together," Remus agreed, the thought of showering together reminding him of all the issues everyone was having this summer because of the heat. "After all, there isn't enough water this summer, remember? We have to do our little bits! Ha! Little bits!"

"Huh?" Lily asked, blinking at him. "You never make sense when you're drunk, Remus," she decided.

Remus deflated; well, his joke was funny to _him_. Sirius would have found it funny. But then, Sirius had an unrefined sense of humour, so who cared about him.

"No shower," he said firmly. Lily let herself hang off of them to be mean for a bit, then got moving when he and Snape tugged her to her room. She was pliant until they reached her bed, but then she jerked forward and they all ended up sprawling on her bed like idiots with their butts sticking up and everything.

"M'sleepy," Lily slurred as Remus and Snape managed to get free of her weight to sit on the bed.

"Should we just leave her?"

Snape rubbed his forehead first, then sighed.

"Why not," he decided grumpily.

"She's still starkers."

"I _see_ that."

They sat there for a bit longer, trying to decide what to do. Lily was already blissfully asleep, and Remus wished he could just stretch out on the bed and kip for a couple of hours, too.

But they _were_ all starkers as babies, and while it didn't bother him now very much, he thought it might in the morning, when he wasn't sloshed.

"Nighties!"

Snape jumped in fright.

"Huh?"

"We should put a nightie on her and leave her here."

"Fine."

Snape reached across Lily to tuck his hand under her pillow next to Remus' hip. Lily grumbled at his weight on her back but didn't wake up. Snape's hand emerged holding fabric.

"Ha!"

"Hey, I do that too," Remus said, delighted by the idea that other people also kept their pyjamas under their pillows.

"Now how are we goin' to dress'er?" Snape asked, and they looked down at their friend.

She didn't seem inclined to offer advice.

"Like a crane," Remus decided. "I'm stronger, I'll lift, and you tug it on."

Lily's legs were heavy, but he held them up gamely while Snape tried to tuck first one foot and then the other into the correct holes in the shorts. He managed to tug the shorts up to her knees before losing his balance so that they all ended up crashing back onto the bed, Remus sprawled over Lily's bum and Snape's nose buried in Remus' armpit.

She didn't wake up.

"Ugh, you stink!" Snape exclaimed, sitting down on the floor.

"Like you're sunshine and flowers."

"Lily's right; you don't make any sense when you're drunk."

Remus rolled his eyes. Everyone was a critic tonight, apparently. "Come on, we're half-way there. I'll roll her and you get the shorts up."

Lily managed to sleep through it, and they smiled triumphantly at each other. Then they realised that they also had to get her top on, and Remus didn't want to touch her breasts, because if she found out, he knew Lily would be upset.

It was only that it was almost too dark for Remus to see where he was putting his hands, and he was the one with the better night vision of the two of them.

"I think I need to be a bit drunker for this," he decided morosely.

Lily's top hit him in the face and he jerked back; Snape's aim was much better than last time. Then again, this time he was sitting right there at Remus' feet.

"You put it on'er, I'll hold'er up," Snape ordered. "I'm drunk enough."

"I bet you are," Remus agreed. Damn his furry roommate and its stupidly fast metabolism. He waited until Snape clambered back onto the bed and sat behind Lily's head. Then he heaved her torso up and leaned her against his chest.

Remus stuck the camisole over her head and then they wrestled her limp arms through the other holes. Snape batted him away when Remus tried to pull it down properly and did it himself. He made sure to watch, too, because it was very suspicious, but Snape didn't cop any feels. That was all right, then; he would have had to tell Lily in the morning and it would have been all awkward. Maybe he would have had to tell her. Perhaps; after all, she would have deserved it, for falling sleep on them like a sack of potatoes. And he wasn't disliking Snape so much as before, so maybe not. The other boy did make good liquor.

"Did we put it on backwards?" Snape asked squinting down.

"I... don't think I care," Remus concluded, scooting to stand up swayingly on his feet. "Give her here on the pillow. I wanna go to sleep."

They finally settled her on her pillow and stumbled back into the hallway, leaning against one another.

In the hallway, they looked at each other for a long moment.

What Remus decided was this – he wasn't as drunk as the other two, but he was still _way_ too drunk and tired to deal with Snape. He was going to bed and the other boy could do what he wanted. Snape apparently decided the same thing, because they managed to go their own ways at the same time.

When he was finally in his room, Remus dug out his sleeping shorts and crawled into his bed, feeling loose and exhausted.

He was going to have to get his revenge on Lily for her silly falling asleep tomorrow. That way they would all end up feeling awkward and annoyed, and would all be equal. He took some time to decide how best to go about doing it.

He fell asleep before he quite managed to work it out.


	2. Friends in Unexpected Places

**A/N: **This chapter takes place in the first week of August of 1976, when Severus stays at Hogwarts for three weeks to learn Occlumency, and would thus coincide with Chapter 25: To Learn as Individuals of The Path Not Tread.

* * *

**Friends in Unexpected Places**

_Having both Madam Pomfrey and Flitwick, in addition to Dumbledore, take Severus seriously and not dismiss him out of hand as just 'that greasy-haired Slytherin boy' made Hogwarts feel more like home than ever before._

[_The Path Not Tread_, Chapter II,25: To Learn as Individuals]

* * *

**Poppy Pomfrey**

Occlumency training was, by and large, something Severus was excelling at; for all that he adored potioneering and that he found magical theory – and especially when it pertained to Dark Magic – endlessly curious, Occlumency still eclipsed them, proving at the same time challenging and yet inexplicably _right_, a part of him that he'd never been as aware of as he was being now, in the desolate, cavernous, empty Hogwarts, when it felt closer to his heart than any other home ever had.

That didn't mean it was all sunshine and daisies.

Busy as he was, Dumbledore had assigned him two tools for Occlumency practice – the Sorting Hat, and a Curio. The Sorting Hat was appropriately discomforting, certainly, given that it was rather sentient and seemed to take extreme enjoyment in doing more than sorting some brats for an evening, but it was also kind with its praise and rather encouraging, so on the whole it balanced out.

Not so with the Curio.

Curios were strange objects whose inherent purpose was to force compulsion in a certain measure around themselves; Severus thought they were likely invented by a rather malicious trickster of a wizard as a practical joke, but the inherent danger in them was not to be understated nonetheless. While there were various sorts of Curios, charmed to influence people in their vicinity to do various sorts of things, their greatest danger lay in whether they were designed to release the compulsion or not. Any Curio that was not was designated as a Dark Curio, even if they weren't created by the use of the Dark Arts. Those that were, were by far the most dangerous of these trinkets, easily ensnaring beings in their to their deaths, and their regulation was extremely strict because of the level of damage they could very easily do in the Muggle world, depending on their radius of influence.

Dumbledore's was a Curio of the benign kind, in as much as these things were benign, and was to serve for endurance exercises in Severus' Occlumency training. For the most part, he found it a challenge he was up to; that didn't mean that he didn't have days when it felt a bit too much.

That was how he ended up wandering the Hogwarts' deserted hallways at four in the morning, about a week after he'd arrived at the school, feeling like a ghost inside and out.

With the students gone, most of the school was closed for the summer, the portraits and statues and other passage guardians taking a well-deserved rest from the gaggle of children they were subjected to for most of the year. The Headmaster had judged it simpler to put Severus up in his guest bedroom, seeing how the Headmaster's Quarters were right above his office, and this was where Severus was spending the vast majority of his time in the day, with his head buried in books or magical practice. For the most part, the Slytherin himself truly didn't mind either way; the pace was so gruelling that by the evening, he was far too tired to pay attention to where exactly he put his head down.

The unfamiliar surroundings did, however, contribute to his sense of unease when he ended up having a rather vivid nightmare, prompted no doubt by straining his mind too much with the Curio practice. He couldn't quite remember the nightmare after he'd woken up, but the sense of dread and fear lingered, making him itch in his own skin in this unfamiliar room.

Wandering the deserted castle at least allowed for physical movement, and while it didn't chase away the dread and fear and unease, it at least made it manageable to ignore to a large extent. If his thoughts kept wanting to focus back on the disintegration of the only healthy Muggle relationship he'd ever been privileged to witness, on Lily's wan face, on the thought of how close he'd come to losing her twice over, had he not told her of his work with Dumbledore, on what lay ahead for him and how much he'd have to work to get there, on what it'd be like to become a Death Eater and yet be a spy from the start, well, it was a good thing that his whole purpose in being in the castle at this time of year was Occlumency, because Occluding his mind at least managed to keep these sorts of thoughts at bay for the most part.

Not enough to let him sleep, though, and there was the rub.

The sound of creaky doors opening and the lighting of one wall candle to give some illumination past the near-full moon startled Severus out of his hazy thoughts.

"Having trouble sleeping, young man?" a no-nonsense, female voice asked. Blinking as his eyes adjusted to more light, Severus realised that he was right in front of the hospital wing. Before he'd managed to put together a coherent response that at the same time wouldn't reveal his state of mind, Madam Pomfrey opened the door further. "Come on, then; in you get."

"Madam Pomfrey?"

"Busy hands make a cure for troubled minds, Mr Snape," she answered, closing the door after he'd slunk in. She looked fully awake but clearly not expecting visitors if he was going by her comfortable but slightly tatty robe, of the kind that one wore around the house. Whether she'd not yet gone to bed, or had awoken long enough ago to have shaken the vestiges of sleep, Severus couldn't say. "I usually take the time over the summer to brew the large quantities of relatively common medicines for later in the year. Pepper-Up Potion, Dreamless Sleep and such."

"Ah," Severus voiced, still feeling somewhat wrong-footed, but allowing himself to be almost manhandled into the back room, where the hospital wing laboratory was located.

"I will need a decently sized batch of Skele-Gro," Madam Pomfrey continued. "You will find the ingredients in the storage cupboard beyond that door. And if you wish, you may also brew a small batch in addition for experimentation purposes; I will not promise to use it, but I would be very curious to see what you make of the recipe, which in my opinion leaves quite a bit of room for improvement."

"And you trust me to brew potions that you intend to use on the school populace?" Severus found himself blurting out in surprise.

Madam Pomfrey gave him a soft look by her standards – which wasn't truly very soft, but it drove itself straight into Severus' heart all the same.

"Do you know why I do most of the brewing myself, Mr Snape? Because Horace, proud though he rightfully is of his craft and skills, finds mass production to be tedious and is thus rather more resentful of having to do it than I prefer my brewers to be. Not because I would not be grateful, mind, but rather because the product never quite comes out working as effectively as I'd wish it to. And I know that you know what I mean by that."

Of course Severus knew what she meant; while there was little foolish wand-waving to potioneering, it was a _magical _discipline for much more than the ingredients one used. Muggles could probably produce most of the simpler brews, just for the inherent magic in many uncommon ingredients that would be enough to fuel the process if done with wizarding equipment, but their brews would be inherently weak, bordering on completely ineffective, because one _did _use magic when brewing. It was innate use, of the sort that one didn't truly notice unless one focused, but it was there nonetheless, in how one lit the fire, wielded the stirrer, handled the ingredients. And like with all magic, intent played an immense role there, too. It was one of those things that had earned Eileen Severus' admiration once he'd begun purposely studying the magic in potioneering, that she could hate her craft so much and yet produce such high quality product in spite of it – it spoke to tremendous self-possession and focus.

"I may not know you as well as the Headmaster does, Mr Snape, but I believe I do know you far better than many other students that pass through my care. And I am fully aware of the love you have for your chosen craft, and the respect you have for my profession as well, much as you resent having it applied to yourself. More importantly, you understand the necessity of seemingly tedious chores and do not allow that tediousness to interfere with your work ethic. The equipment, you will find in that cupboard by the window, and should you need reference books, they are on the shelf behind you. We shall test your experimental Skele-Gro on several severely injured wild birds that we currently have recuperating with Hagrid, so make sure you do not brew a poison on accident."

_As if_, Severus almost wanted to scoff. But the brusque kindness Madam Pomfrey had shown him without ever attracting attention to his initial predicament was combining with his evening's strange mood and wreaking havoc on his mental control, so instead he simply did as she'd instructed and set everything up on the work bench for brewing Skele-Gro.

They worked in silence, with no unnecessary chatter, and having a mentally challenging task to focus on had Severus' mind finally letting go of the nightmare, bit by bit, just like the woman had intended. Working with a new brewing partner could be a tricky, and finding that he and Madam Pomfrey were neither getting in each other's way nor causing each other disturbance with their work was gratifying. Severus hadn't brewed with a more knowledgeable person in almost seven years, when it came right down to it, since he'd stopped brewing _with _his mother and began brewing _for_ her, though he'd not quite understood the distinction at the time to be able to put a name to it. And while Lily was really very good with potioneering, she had never been his intellectual superior in the craft. Slughorn or any of the other students weren't even worth mentioning in the same context.

By the time they were done, the first pale lightness of the early summer morning in the Scottish highlands was beginning to substitute the candlelight, and Severus felt more settled in his own mind than he had since arriving at Hogwarts. Stretching his aching shoulders, he bottled the regular batch of Skele-Gro into appropriate dosages (which Madam Pomfrey then sent flying outside of the laboratory, into storage no doubt), before taking his time inspecting his improvised brew – he'd not spent too much time on the potion itself previously, not having any true urgency before to improve it in any way, but he _had _had an idea or two from other potions that he felt could be applied here, and was curious to see how it'd work out.

He placed it into Madam Pomfrey's outstretched hand once he'd bottled it and found himself yawning.

"Once Hagrid brings the birds in for their treatment, I will summon you and we will test this," Madam Pomfrey promised; unlike Severus, she looked perfectly rested even though she'd spent most of the night over several large cauldrons.

"And if it proves to work better than the regular recipe?"

"I shall have to see," the matron answered. "I am not allowed to use anything not governmentally approved on the students unless the case absolutely demands it and parental consent is given, but I will speak with the Headmaster on the matter and perhaps we might be able to work something out. As for you, young man – you are quite welcome to join me any time you wish; I can always use a deft hand such as yours, and as you're quite aware, once flu season starts, we can never brew enough for the demand. And Mr Snape," she added softly once she'd escorted him to the entrance of the hospital wing, "if you find yourself at loose ends, or needing some peace and quiet to gather your thoughts, my doors are always open to you. Whatever else happens in your life, you will not alone in the world, not so long as this hospital wing is my domain. And that goes whether you are here in the role of a patient or an assistant."

"I... thank you, Madam Pomfrey," Severus said hoarsely, throat tight. The stern woman offered him a gentle smile before her face fell into its customary no-nonsense expression.

"Now, to bed with you, Mr Snape. Get some rest, and I will see you later today or tomorrow."

"Until then," he agreed, giving her a small smile of his own, before turning and finding his way back to Headmaster's quarters and his now far more inviting bed, feeling all the while as if a tiny bit of faith in the adults of their world was restored to him this evening.

* * *

**Filius Flitwick**

_You do your House proud, and Her as well. Your mind is quite orderly, and your magical core is almost at the adult level; you would likely be able to sense Her, if you were taught how. _

The idea of Hogwarts as a quiet sentience stayed with Severus in the hours and days after the Sorting Hat had implied it, niggling at his curiosity, spurring on thoughts of research he really didn't have the time for. The idea of being able to sense her was a very appealing one, and wouldn't leave him alone.

Severus had intended to ask Dumbledore about it, but on the afternoon of the same day when he'd learned of this new, intriguing piece of information, they started in on manipulating memories and in his application to the new challenge, he forgot all about it.

The thought came back to him as he was walking down the deserted corridors at six in the morning the next day, and he turned it over in his head for a bit. Given the history and the concentration of magical folk occupying this exact spot, it wasn't hard to assume that the location was some sort of magical fulcrum; magic had its own rules, ones Severus was far more aware existed than most other people did. Dark Magic straddled the line between ordered, structured magic manipulation and wild, untapped potential of the free magic swirling in the world. He'd never truly gone into proper research of that other side, but now he did wonder if there were any definable limitations to it, and how those might relate to the castle.

And sensing Her? That was appealing for a very, very different reason.

"Ah, Mr Snape; good morning, I hope," the voice of Severus' diminutive Charms professor greeted him softly from an open doorway, and he realised that he'd wandered into the corridor leading to the Ravenclaw tower.

"Good morning, sir," Severus answered respectfully, not quite sure what to say. He'd not planned on crossing paths with this particular professor, especially not this early in the day.

"Poppy mentioned that you seemed to retire late and rise early; rather like her, I suppose. I would have expected you to be down in her laboratory?"

So the staff talked; that was an alarming thought, if one that really shouldn't have surprised him quite as much.

"You talked about me?" he asked with a frown, crossing his arms defensively over his chest. In answer, Flitwick chuckled.

"Not to worry; Professor Dumbledore had warned us to keep it between the four of us. Hagrid, bless his heart, tends to be rather talkative when inebriated, and who the Headmaster's private guests are should not concern anyone outside of the Headmaster's Quarters."

The calculating, deceptively mild look in Flitwick's eyes made Severus' hair stand on end. He'd heard some stories about Dumbledore's possible proclivities, though who was insane enough to consider a nonagenarian's sexual interests, Severus didn't know and didn't _want_ to know. As far as he was concerned, Dumbledore was absolutely asexual, which was perhaps why he'd not considered the rather damning possible interpretation of the three-week invitation.

Before he could say anything, though, Flitwick tittered in laughter. "That was not what I meant, young man, and I doubt many others would think of it, either. Really, given the number of unmarried faculty, it's no wonder that you youngsters always assume we're all celibate and with no private lives, so I wouldn't worry that anyone would go quite down the route you just did."

"Your wording was quite suggestive, Professor," Severus pointed out crossly.

"Well, given that we were all students of Professor Dumbledore, I suppose it's no wonder that our views on such matters have persisted, as well. To be honest, I have never considered such a thing at any length, and I'd rather continue not to."

"Why?" Severus found himself asking. "Do you know something?"

"Oh, I'm sure many people know a great many things, me included; but that is the Headmaster's private business, and should rather remain so, don't you agree?"

Severus shrugged. "Information is a very valuable currency."

"Yes, something I believe only Slytherins can fully appreciate, though we Ravenclaws try our best. How are your studies going so far?"

"What has Dumbledore told you?"

"Professor Dumbledore," Flitwick corrected mildly with a slant of his head. "And he's not told any of us much; just that you would be staying with us for the purposes of advanced magical study for which he'd given personal dispensation, and that your presence is not to be disclosed beyond Minerva, Poppy and me."

"They're going fine," Severus answered noncommittally, shrugging his shoulders.

"If I may be of any assistance, do not hesitate to seek me out, please."

"Actually, I do have a question. Is there something specific about Hogwarts that could be sensed?"

The diminutive professor released a mild sound of surprise and, tightening his house-robe, invited Severus into his quarters. They were decorated in pleasantly cool and airy colours, with earthen browns to contrast the blues, and there were as many overflowing bookshelves as Severus wished he could himself own.

"That, Mr Snape, is rather a complex question, and would require something of a lengthy explanation. I suspect you've not yet had breakfast? Well, then, I'll get us some and then we can talk."

It was one of the more surreal experiences of Severus' Hogwarts days, certainly; Severus both liked and respected the little man, but this was one of the professors who felt like they belonged to Lily more than Severus, just like Slughorn ironically enough, and so Severus had very little to go on as the older wizard procured a breakfast tray for each of them from the kitchens and then settled himself on the other side of the coffee table, apparently perfectly comfortable with eating in his sitting room rather than the little kitchenette, and indeed didn't seem in the least bit discomforted by the fact that seated in the cosy armchair, his legs dangled in the air as if those of a five-year-old. He even swung them up and down a bit in clear excitement.

(Severus assumed from this that he wasn't the only visitor to Flitwick's quarters; why else would his living room furniture be unsuitable to his height, when that in the kitchen clearly was?)

"Hogwarts is actually more or less sentient," the man began his explanation once they'd both made their plates and begun eating. "It's become tradition to refer to the castle in the female gender; I believe Muggles tend to do that with their vehicles as well. It's the consequence of so much continual magic being performed and maintained in a centralised location, as I'm sure you've already had the chance to conclude. She only communicates overtly with the headmasters unless prompted, but those especially attuned to external magic can reach her easily enough. It is not any sort of sentience that would be easily comprehensible to us, of course, given that she's built of stone and magic, and my belief is that this evolved as a direct consequence of continual warding against various threats. Most are completely unaware of it, and even if they were, very few witches and wizards have the time needed to do anything about it."

"Can you communicate with her?"

Flitwick nodded enthusiastically. "Oh, yes; her presence is quite amplified in my classrooms due to the high magical discharge that regularly occurs there. I believe the same is also true for the Transfiguration and Defence quarters. If you like, we could take the morning and I could explain the mechanics behind it to you a bit more; what is your background in Magical Theory?"

"Good enough," Severus answered certainly.

"May I be so bold as to assume it would be in the area of Dark Magic?"

Severus nodded once, defiantly. He had a reputation, so it was no wonder that was where the diminutive man's thoughts had first jumped, but if he was going to judge Severus for his interests, then the Slytherin was fine researching this topic all on his own.

But Flitwick only nodded in answer and scurried to his bookshelves, beginning to pull tomes out.

"Quite interesting to note, isn't it, Mr Snape, that the magical theory behind the Dark Arts should be so informative in the use of common everyday spells; I hesitate to say Light Magic, given that there is certainly an extremely wide gap between the truly Dark and truly Light Magic, especially in the theory, but we rarely teach any of the true extremes here at the school. I believe the Patronus Charm is not on the curriculum at all? No, apologies, it's been included in the Defence N.E.W.T. levels as an extracurricular project since I was a student. I should like to have gotten the chance to teach it, but it is primarily used as a defensive measure, so I cannot rightly complain, of course."

"You'd probably teach it better than whichever professor of the year we get stuck with in the end," Severus noted with a roll of his eyes. "And you could still ask Dumbledore to offer it; the Patronus Charm is much more than just a defensive measure."

"Oh, have you studied it?" Flitwick turned around to ask, eyes sparkling, and Severus found himself actually admitting to something he'd never planned to.

"I can perform it."

"Oh! Oh, how marvellous! A fully corporeal Patronus? That is _very_ advanced magic, Mr Snape, well done! I should like very much to see it, if you would not mind?"

The pride he felt at gaining such enthusiastic, unconstrained praise from one of his professors was an utterly unfamiliar sensation, almost alien in the positive effect it had on Severus' mood. It was certainly enough to push him into pulling his wand out and making the familiar circular movement with it, the memory of Lily from their seaside vacation finding easy purchase in his mind now that it was more honed with Occlumency and buoyed by the already positive emotions coursing through him, and it was only when his precious doe materialised that Severus abruptly remembered to feel embarrassment over his Patronus' shape.

But Flitwick didn't seem to note anything wrong with the feminine animal at all, instead clapping his hands enthusiastically in delight and circling the Patronus, inspecting the spell with the trained eyes of a Charms Master. It was easier to hold the spell, too, which was a surprising side-effect of Occlumency that Severus found himself appreciating very much. He'd needed to learn to understand his emotions in order to be able to conjure the Patronus, but now the same skill was proving quite effective in other aspects of magic, combining with his inborn ability to compartmentalise and partition his own mind by giving him enough control over his strongest emotions to manipulate them to his own purposes.

"Extraordinary," Flitwick said in the end, turning to meet Severus' eyes. "Mr Snape, this is absolutely extraordinary. A corporeal Patronus at sixteen years of age. And it is still quite strong, even after several minutes. I am quite impressed, I must admit."

"Thank you, Professor," Severus said, feelings the way his cheeks were starting to burn from the alien smile on his face. "It... wasn't easy. Quite difficult to learn, actually."

"You should be very proud of yourself, Mr Snape. And perhaps, a suggestion?" The diminutive wizard waited until Severus nodded before continuing. "I believe you'd benefit enormously if you were to tutor Miss Evans in this area – as would indeed she as well."

"Lily? But we're not–" The pointed look in Flitwick's eyes had Severus falling silent.

"Mr Snape, the friendship such as the one you share with Miss Evans is not something to be taken for granted. Whatever happened between you at the end of last term – and yes, we professors are far more aware of most things happening between students than you lot seem to think – I strongly advise you to find a way of mending it, and offering to teach her the Patronus Charm would certainly be an effective way. Did you know that Miss Evans's scores on her Charms O.W.L. were the highest in the last thirty years? Mine were the ones higher than hers. The Patronus Charm is in many ways the pinnacle of Light Magic, and I have no doubt that Miss Evans will walk out of this school with full mastery of it. But it would be far more valuable to the both of you if it came from you."

Severus nodded stiffly but kept his mouth shut; he knew all of that already, of course, but then Flitwick obviously still believed that they'd parted ways, and given how they were going to be behaving in the coming school year, it was better not to disabuse him of that notion. Perhaps showing him the Patronus had been a bad idea after all, though Severus was hard-pressed to regret it in the face of such profuse praise.

"Now, then," Flitwick said, dismissing the topic – and the heavy atmosphere – by levitating the various books onto the table and wiggling onto his sofa chair in order to finish his breakfast as the first of the books opened itself to a diagram from the field of Magical Theory, "Hogwarts' sentience."

They spent some hour and more in a private lecture on the topic. Flitwick took them through the basic magical theory behind the idea, explaining the many protective and defensive wards around them and how they were built in historical order. Then he segued into explaining his private musings and research into the topic, and here Severus felt confident enough to contribute, to ask practical questions over details and to give ideas as they came to him.

Hogwarts seemed to have something of a personality, according to the Charms Master; she was rather protective of her students, though far more from outside threats than those inside her. She was capable of refusing a headmaster, and had done so on four separate occasions throughout her millennium-long history – in such a case, the Headmaster's Quarters remained locked to the person elected for the position, and though all of them had tried, they'd vacated it within a year or so. She even took particular interest in some of her students, though this interest was as alien as the sentience itself, manifesting itself in the strangest of ways – from having the house-elves dote on them, to contacting them through their dreams, to one particular case of allowing a student to Apparate on her grounds in spite of the anti-Apparition wards.

Then, when they'd covered all of this in detail, Flitwick began teaching Severus how to sense her even before Severus had gotten over his hesitance to request such tutelage. It was inexact and more than a little tricky, but it did seem as if Hogwarts was at least curious enough to respond, and they concluded the first exercise with the success of Severus finally managing to put a proper name to that feeling of belonging that he'd had ever since he'd first crossed the Black Lake as an impressionable First-year – it had, apparently, been Hogwarts welcoming him and wanting him to feel welcomed in turn all along.

And the cherry on top of the pleasure and excitement of feeling wanted by the large castle was that, by the time they were done, half the day had gone and Severus felt like he'd come to know his Charms professor far more than he had before, and, more than that, felt that he was genuinely liked in return. It was not a very familiar feeling, but it was one he secretly cherished nonetheless.


End file.
